by Andrew Simon
It’s time for the interview to begin, but Jake Herbert isn’t quite done with his workout. So in between every few questions, he fits in sets of dips and pulls, working out his arms, shoulders and back.
What makes you good?
“A lot of hard work…”
How hard do you work?
“I make it a lifestyle…”
Can anybody beat you?
“Not when I wrestle my best. When I do that, the only person that can beat me is myself.”
For Herbert, the workout is never quite done. When you’re an All-American, ranked second in your weight class, riding a 28-match winning streak and striving for a national title, it can’t be.
“I feel like I’ve outworked everyone at my weight class (174 pounds),” Herbert said. “There are not many as driven as me. I fucking hate losing, and you have to have that attitude.
“When I wrestle I know the other kid out there on the mat hasn’t worked as hard as me and made the sacrifices I’ve made. I’m insulted he thinks he can beat me.”
When Herbert says nobody works as hard, it’s difficult to question. He trains every day, often on three different occasions. For many, three hours of running and lifting is a struggle. For Herbert, it’s a light workout.
“He’s always the first one in and the last one out at practice,” coach Tim Cysewski said. “He’s very self-motivated.”
Herbert’s determination has taken him to the upper echelon of his sport. As a redshirt freshman last year, Herbert won his first 22 matches and finished the season 33-3, placing third at the NCAA Championships.
This season, Herbert is 22-0 and holds the nation’s third longest active winning streak at 28. Only top-ranked Missouri junior Ben Askren (174 pounds) and fifth-ranked Buffalo senior Kyle Cerminara (197 pounds) have longer streaks, at 32 and 30.
Herbert’s winning streak is also the longest in school history.
“He’s got three more years of eligibility left,” said senior John Velez about how long he thinks Herbert’s streak can continue. “I’m positive he could beat anyone out there. Unless there’s a freak accident, he could win every match. Few people can put him in a dangerous position, and he’s dangerous in any position.”
Herbert is also wrestling with the knowledge gained from last season’s defeats. In particular, he has taken something from his losses to Illinois’ Pete Friedl at the Big Ten Championships and Stanford’s Imad Kharbush at the NCAA Championships. He lost the match against Friedl at the last second and was surprised in the match against Kharbush, a lower-ranked opponent.
“You’ve got to wrestle the whole seven minutes, and he learned that last year,” Cysewski said. “Also, sometimes you have an idea of what you want to accomplish but you can’t focus more on that than on just winning the match. In Nationals, the kid hit him with a few things he hadn’t seen before, and he didn’t make adjustments fast enough. He tried to do too much. I think he’s learned from both situations and become a student of the sport.”
With these lessons in mind, Herbert will continue on the tough road towards an undefeated season. While both he and his coach realize the difficulty of the Big Ten ” the team’s conference season began last Friday at No. 1 Minnesota ” Herbert has already beaten several of the league’s wrestlers this season, including sophomore Mark Perry, ranked fourth in the country.
If he continues his success, a potential showdown with Askren looms at the National Finals in Oklahoma City from March 16-18. But no matter his opponent, few can doubt Herbert.
“He’s pretty dangerous from any position, whether he’s riding someone or scrambling,” senior Matt Delguyd said. “He’s the total package, so he’s able to match up against any kind of wrestler out there.”
“I’ve met guys more naturally strong, talented and quick,” Velez said. “But he’s pretty good at everything. He has very few or maybe even no weaknesses. He’s Achilles with two good heels.”
Herbert also spoke of his intensity on the mat, something he has tried to take to an even higher level this year.
“I want to dominate this year, not just win,” Herbert said. “I want to make them hate to wrestle me. I want them to think they have no chance to beat me. I want to break them so they never want to wrestle me again.”
According to Cysewski, this type of attitude has already made Herbert one of the best wrestlers he’s ever coached.
“He’s going to be right up there at the top,” Cysewski said. “The last national champion we had, Jack Griffin (in 1990), worked hard and studied his opponents. Jake does the same thing. He’s still got to win a national championship, but he’s on target. He would be in the top three right now. Hopefully by the end of his career, he will be the top guy.”
But Herbert doesn’t have that national title yet. So for now, he will keep fitting in sets of dips and pulls between questions.
“I’m hoping I never lose a college match again,” Herbert said. “I’ve lost three already, and that’s three too many.”
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